That day Len Dawson’s classy wife, Jackie, treated a teenager to a secret steak dinner

Generous gesture

Upon reading Len Dawson has entered hospice care, I felt compelled to tell a story from my past. (Aug. 14, 1B, “Hall of Fame QB Dawson enters hospice care”)

In 1969, at 16 years old, I attended the Len Dawson football camp at William Jewell College. Dawson and several other Chiefs players, including Mike Garrett, Otis Taylor, Ed Budde and more, were there to assist and advise. I was the only attendee arriving via Greyhound bus from Oklahoma City.

I guess everyone else flew in or drove in — I’m not sure. But I am sure the late Jackie Dawson picked me up at the bus station in the nicest car I’d ever seen. I had no idea she was Mrs. Len Dawson. She immediately asked if I was hungry and, without waiting for an answer, took me to a very nice steakhouse for a Kansas City strip. She ordered for me and sat patiently as we talked while the steak was prepared. I don’t know if she thought I was poor and hungry, but I sure enjoyed the best steak ever and the ride to Jewell in that fine sports car with the classiest woman I had ever met.

She said to me: “Don’t tell Lenny I paid.”

- Mark Clinard, Bentonville, Arkansas

Trump’s con

It is apparent from a Sunday letter under the subheadline “Trump’s appeal” (19A) that this author and others like him think Donald Trump is one of them — that Trump has the same values.

I have often wondered what the people who support him see in Trump. Let’s call this the Big Con. He has conned these people into believing he is a proud American and is fighting for them, when in reality he cares only about himself and lives for the attention they give him at his rallies.

Will they ever realize they have been conned?

- Michael Hansen, Olathe

Whose voice?

I am continually amazed (and appalled) at the diametrically opposed opinions of Donald Trump. As a retired military (27 years) and civilian (14 years) federal servant, I have spent my working life having sworn to support and defend the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

And with that viewpoint, I see a much different Donald Trump. He cares about our country only so much as he perceives it cares about him. “America first” was thrown out the window as he threw American democracy and the rule of law under the bus after he fairly lost his 2020 reelection bid. Rather than expose them, Trump courts corrupt politicians who he thinks can help him. He surrounds himself with people who mirror his own self-serving, amoral, autocratic, win-at-all-costs, totally corrupt and twisted personal ethos.

Trump’s mission was, is and always will be his own aggrandizement. He is no one’s voice but his own, and he is unfit to hold public office at any level. In an era of unworthy politicians in both major parties, Trump represents the nadir of them all.

- Charles Black, Leavenworth

Side chosen

No surprise: Many Republicans would rather support Donald Trump than our Constitution. Is political power worth our march toward losing our precious democracy? The midterm elections will determine what we decide to do as a country.

Did Trump show our top secret info to Russian President Vladimir Putin or some other adversaries? We may never know.

Do leading Republicans even care?

- Pamela Saltzman, Lenexa

Reduce abortions

In the wake of the sobering election results of Aug. 2 in Kansas, I have changed my mind about how the abortion issue should be approached. It is no longer worth fighting to end all abortions.

It is clear that abortions will never disappear, whether legal or illegal, and the hearts and minds of those who are not pro-life will never change. The two sides disagree at a fundamental, visceral and perhaps even biological and genetic level.

However, the number of abortions could be drastically reduced — from a common occurrence to one that is extremely rare — if we concentrate our efforts on building stronger families, increasing the number of pregnancy resource centers, empowering fathers and grandparents, publicly funding preschool and day care services, and increasing access to and public funding for medical and psycho-social support and family planning services. These are ideas that should have strong, bipartisan support.

We cannot save every baby, and we must accept that. However, we can give every baby the best fighting chance at life.

- Steven Wittenberg Gordon, Overland Park